"You've got some nerve!" I heard Niall shout as I came round. I'd drifted off on the sofa and his angry voice woke me up.

"I'm not here to cause any trouble, I swear." My blood ran cold. That was most definitely Harry's rather shameful sounding voice. "Please, just let me see her."

I sat up, trying to make the action quick but the strain in my eye forcing me to take it slowly. My brother was standing in the porch, which indicated to me that Harry was at the door. He was a bit thick if he thought Niall would let him in.

Why would he be here? He'd proven to me that he didn't care about me, that all of this was one big act to try and conquer me, that it was a game to him. The reminder made me feel sick again, and the fact he was here made my eyes water and my heart ache.

"Do you honestly think I'm going to let you anywhere near my sister after everything you've done?"

Harry let out a sigh so loud that even I could hear it in the living room. After a moment he raised his voice, shouting, "Jess?" into the house.

"She doesn't want to see you!" Niall snapped, probably trying to silence Harry to prevent me from hearing him.

I couldn't decide whether I did want to see him or not. Emotionally, he'd hurt me horribly, and he'd physically hurt my brother. I felt like I never wanted to see him again, like I wished I could forget about him completely to avoid feeling this heartbreak and betrayal, but at the same time I wanted to talk to him. I wanted to hear what he could possibly have to say, since so far he hadn't actually shed any light on the situation.

I pulled myself up off the sofa and crept over to the front door behind Niall, who immediately whipped round to face me. "Jess, go back in the lounge."

I allowed myself to glance timidly at Harry, and to my surprise, he looked absolutely awful. The way I'd pictured him looking in the ER - which I've been told over and over again was just a figure of my imagination - was exactly how he looked now. His eyes were dark purple underneath and incredibly droopy; he just generally looked exhausted. His expression was hopeful but sad as he stared at me.

He had no reason to be sad, I thought, it was me that should be looking devastated (if I didn't already).

"It's okay, Niall."

"It isn't fuçking okay! He's not coming in here."

"I want to talk to him," I said softly, trying to give both of them the impression that I was being mature in hearing him out, and nothing else.

"I'm not letting him in this house." He was persistent - totally adamant to keep Harry away from both of us.

"I guess we'll go outside then," I shrugged, going to step past him but being grabbed to stop me from doing so. Niall stared me down for a moment, thinking.

"If he's going to be anywhere near you it'll be under my watch." He turned back to Harry, "You can come in, but you're not out-staying your welcome. One wrong move and you're dead."

Harry nodded gratefully, quickly stepping into the porch and kicking off his shoes. Thankfully, Niall disappeared off into the lounge and I took Harry upstairs without a word, shutting the door behind us and perching on my bed.

He observed me silently for a while, his gaze burning a hole in the side of my head. He sounded nervous when he asked, "Are you... are you okay? Your eye, I mean. Does it hurt?"

"Yeah, it does," I told the truth. "I have a concussion, but... I'll be fine."

There was a short silence before he spoke up again hesitantly. "Jess..."

"Why are you here?" I cut him off straight away. I was completely clueless as to why he'd show up here and want to see me, I was certain he'd be happy to have gotten rid of me after getting what he wanted. This was the easy way out for him.

"I don't know where to begin," he admitted glumly, confusing me even further. "I royally fuçked up."

"Yeah," I agreed matter-of-factly.

"I'm... I'm so sorry. I honestly have no idea what to even say because I don't know why I did it and-"

"What?"

He paused, looking just as puzzled as I did now. "What?"

"You're trying to apologise? You came here to try and get me to forgive you?"

"I... Yeah. Why else would I be here, Jess?" His voice was so gentle.

"This isn't making sense to me," I said, frowning at him. "You gave me the cold shoulder, told everyone how annoying I was and how I was just a 'conquest', and then didn't even try to save whatever this was when it all blew up. Yet, now, you're here apologising? Why would you want my forgiveness when you don't even like me?"

"I do like you. Jess, I really, really like you. I know I fuçked up and it may seem like I don't but I honestly... I l-... I do. It was never about sex, I swear to you I didn't mean it when I said that."

He looked so weak, like he knew he was fighting a losing battle. I didn't understand how, after everything he'd done, he could expect me to believe he ever had feelings for me. Just looking at him sat on my bed had me wanting to break down and burst out into tears again, he messed with my head beyond belief. Ever since he came into my life everything had just gone pear-shaped.

"I don't believe you, and I don't see you how you could ever expect me to."

He licked his lips and shifted uncomfortably in his spot as he gulped, looking down at his lap briefly. "I know. I don't know what else to do other than tell you how sorry I am. I just... I let my ego get in the way again and I totally ruined everything. You didn't deserve that."

"What happened to 'I'll be here waiting', and 'everything's changed'? You made promises and you broke them, Harry. You convinced me it would all work out after I ended things with Liam for you, but you abused the fact I'd given everything to you and you hurt me."

My eyes were burning in the need to cry, but I just didn't want to do it in front of him again. Luckily for me I was just about out of tears by now.

"I know. I'm so, so sorry. I've been an absolute díck, but I can change. I promise you I will if you'll just give me a chance," he pleaded. His eyes were glassy as they bored into my own, he almost looked as though he was going to cry.

"You said that last time, and look where that got us. I can't do this, I can't keep believing you when you'll say it'll be okay when you don't even try to make it okay."

"I know I did, but I mean it this time. Seriously, I'll do anything to get you to give me another chance." He dropped to his knees in front of me and desperately grabbed my hands in his, I could barely look at him as my face started to wobble from the tears that were building. "I'll stop smoking, I'll stop drinking, I'll exclude myself from anyone you think is a bad influence... Please, Jess, I can't lose you... You're all I have."

I wiped a tear before it could fall, shaking my head. "I can't, Harry... I can't do it. You've had too many chances and you've blown them all. It's not fair on me."

"Please, baby. You're all I have, I need you. I need you more than I've ever needed anyone." His voice cracked, and I was absolutely shocked when I saw a single tear tumble from his eye and roll down his cheek. Seeing him lose it like that made me start to cry harder, and he dropped his head to fall onto my lap in sorrow. I'd never seen Harry cry before, I'm not sure anyone had.

This moment was so similar to the last time when he chased after me wanting to fix things, and I knew the outcome would be the same if I accepted his apology. I couldn't let him persuade me into thinking things would be different because I was certain he'd be walking all over me again in no time. I couldn't keep falling back into his trap. Even if he really did like me as much as he said, he still took advantage of me when he had me.

"I can't," I repeated, fully sobbing, staring at the wall in front of me so I didn't have to see him crying and down on his knees for me.

His head rose and he gave me a look of false confidence, not hiding the fact he was upset one bit. "I'll show you. I'll prove to you I can be who you want me to be - the person I really am deep down."

"Please," I nodded, my voice wavering, "Please prove me wrong."

--------

Shortly after Harry had shown himself out, and I'd thrown up in the toilet after the impact of everything that'd just happened, Mckenzie made a surprise visit.

Niall must've let her in, because I was sobbing under my duvet when she knocked on my bedroom door. She let herself in when I didn't respond, and carefully peeled back the duvet to find me curled up in a ball of despair underneath. My friend wrapped her arms around me and hugged me tight to comfort me.

"That black eye is one hell of a battle scar," she smiled lightly. "How are you feeling?"

"In relation to Harry or the black eye?" I mumbled, sniffling.

"Both..."

"Terrible."

"Oh Jess," she said pitifully, "What happened?"

I went through everything that'd occurred after her and Louis had dropped me off at my house up until when she'd arrived this afternoon, not missing a single detail. She told me how sorry she was that neither of them answered their phones when I needed them, but in all honesty I was sick of hearing people apologise. Most of all, I was sick of feeling like this was the end of the world and I was sick of all the crying.

"So you're really ending things with him?" she questioned once I'd finished.

"I don't know, I guess it's for the best."

"But you don't want to..." She said it like it was a question, but really I could tell it was more of an observation. She was right. I didn't want to end it with Harry, but he'd given me a reason to. I didn't want to forgive him after everything he'd done - after all the pain he'd caused me.

"I feel like I have to, for myself. I can't keep letting him beg for forgiveness only for something similar to happen again in a few weeks. He's making me miserable," I told her.

"Can I say something? It's not my opinion, just something I think you should consider." I nodded fearfully at what she might come out with, telling her to go on nonetheless. "When someone does something wrong, you can forgive them."

I put being totally depressed on hold for a moment and looked at her with my eyebrows furrowed - a look of confusion taking over. "What do you mean?"

"Just because someone does something to hurt you, doesn't mean you can't forgive them. It seems to be this unwritten rule of society that when someone fuçks you over, you should just cut them out of your life and move on or you're weak, but that's not entirely true. If you want to, you can forgive him. Jess, what I'm trying to say is, if you love him then there's nothing to say you can't give him another chance."

"Who said anything about love?" I said defensively.

"Neither of you would be this upset if you didn't love each other. You don't have to admit it, that's fine, but I just think you should consider it. You know?"

Now was not the time to be deciding whether or not I loved Harry, but I did see where she was coming from. I guess it was something to think about.

"I think I'm just going to see what happens. If he really wants this as much as he says he does, he'll fight for it."

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Please remember to vote and comment if you're enjoying the story!

I'm so so sorry this chapter is way late, very short, and a bit shít in general :( I really struggled writing this part for some reason, I had a total writer's block and with school and work I just couldn't write when I was in the mood to. I'm not entirely happy with the way it turned out writing-wise, but I hope you still like it.

Q: all3gra: What are your thoughts on Harry's current hair situation? Do you think he should trim or cut it or should he let it grow longer?

A: Sometimes I think I really like it, but overall I think it's too long now. I prefer it the length it was in like mid-late 2014. I do like it long but when it gets past his shoulders I think it's too much. I do also like 2013 Harry's hair so, if not then that.

Highlight with a question!

My question for you: What do you think about how Jess, Harry and Mckenzie have all acted in this chapter? Do you support Jess' decisions? Do you agree with what Mckenzie's saying? What do you think about how Harry reacted?